Improvement in drip attachments for umbrellas



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

THADDEUS FOWLER, OF TOTTENVILLE, NEW YORK.

IMPROVEMENT IN DRIP ATTACHMENTS FOR UMBRELLAS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 110,452, dated December 27, 1870.

To all whom it may concern.'

Beit known that I, THADDEUs FOWLER, of Tottenville, in the county of Richmond and State of New Yorlehave invented certain new and useful Improvements in Drip Attachments i'or Umbrellas; and I do hereby declare the following` to be a full,clear,and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making a part of this specification, in whichy Figure l represents a section through an umbrella as it appears when raised and with my drip arrangement ,connected therewith. Fig. 2 represents the drip as it appears when the umbrella is closed or shut down.

Drip bagsor reservoirs have been used in connection with umbrellas; but when the umbrella is upset or falls down the reservoir empties itself, and is objectionable on that account.

My invention consists in the application of a sponge or other absorbing material that will catch and hold the water as its drips down from the umbrella, and which drippings are readily squeezed out of the sponge or other article when necessary.

To enable those skilled in the .art to make and use my invention, I will proceed to describe the same with reference to the drawings.

On the lower end ot' the umbrella-staff' A,

and beyond where the cover is united to it, I

place a pieceof on e,a,which surrounds the staff, and which recelv'emsthe drippings of the umbrella and retains them until convenient to squeeze out the Water. Any other good absorbing material may be used instead of the sponge 5 but the latter is cheap, durable, and efficient for the purpose.

The sponge a, or other absorbent, may be kept in position by a cup or socket, b, which may be permanently xed to the statt', near its low( r end, and another movable cup or socket, c, which can slide up and down thereon, and pierced with holes to allow the water to enter the sponge. Between these cups or sockets,

and surroundingor passing through the sponge,

there may be a spiral spring, d, to protect it, and to expand it after it has been compressed to squeeze out the water absorbedby it. The lower cup or socket,b, which I have said may be permanently attached to the staff A, may move toward the cover, but is prevented from sliding down upon the stai beyond a certain point, and is represented in the drawings as limited inits movementdownward by the pin e.

The sponge a may be divested of its drippings in various ways. It can be done automatically, in the act of opening up the umbrella, as follows To thel collarf, which holds the stretcher-braces, a wire, g, may be connected, which wire passing through the staff A, and protrudingtherefrom beyond the cover and connected with the cup or socket c, so thatin raising the umbrella said rod will, by means of the cup or socket c, compress the sponge and squeeze out the water therefrom, and in compressing the sponge the spring d is also compressed. When the umbrella is closed the reaction of the spring d will elongate or stretch out the sponge and leave it in its best possible condition forabsorbing the drippings. Or the sponge may be compressed by taking the cup or socket b between the thumb and finger and sliding it up toward the ferrule that holds the cover, and so squeeze outthe water. Other Ways ol' compressing the sponge to divest it of the water may readily be used.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, s

The spon ge a, or other absorbent, in combination with the staff and cover of an umbrella, so as to receive and hold the drippings therefrom, and from which the water may be ejected by compression, substantially as and for the purpose described. THADDEUS FOWLER.

Witnesses:

W. P. ADAMS, WM. B. DORE. 

